As the World Falls Down
by Xielle
Summary: In which Sarah is still selfish, and the Goblin King is still in love with the girl with cruel eyes.
1. A crystal, nothing more

**DISCLAIMER:** I have no right to claim Labyrinth and its characters as my own. Etc.

* * *

><p><strong>As the World Falls Down<strong>

"In which Sarah is still selfish, and the Goblin King is still in love with the girl with cruel eyes."

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 1: A crystal, nothing more<strong>

– – –

They say that with Time, things will change.

So I appear before her - the first since she defeated my Labyrinth - when she had her first taste of heartbreak.

Time has been kind to her, I muse, even as her eyes are red, and swollen from her angry tears.

If she was surprised at my sudden appearance, she did not show it, much to my frustration and amusement. But _I do not show it either_, I say to myself, and instead offer Sarah her dreams.

"It's a crystal, precious, nothing more... But if you turn it this—" But I pause, annoyed. She is not even listening!

Instead of falling into my arms, in a show of vulnerability and trust - even though I tell myself that it is _not_ what I expected - she gets angrier, and asks him what I am even doing in her room! _The audacity!_

"I promised you, did I not? That I would be there for you as the world falls down,"

And, as if going out of her way to prove all my expectations wrong, she laughs – a genuinely happy laugh, one that fills the whole room, and suits her better than her tears, and screaming.

"My world," she starts calmly, "is not falling down entirely, Jareth. I got my heart broken, but my world won't shatter with just that."

So determined, Sarah.

But I am already nodding, giving her a slight bow of apology, and going back. Because suddenly, all I could think of was how she called me with such familiarity, and how it sets my instincts on alert, even as it tells me to get far, _far_ away from her familiarity.

But I have never been one to stay objective, when it comes to Sarah.

– – –

**TBC.**


	2. Non  expectations

**DISCLAIMER:** I have no right to claim Labyrinth and its characters as my own. Etc

* * *

><p><strong>As the World Falls Down<strong>

"In which Sarah is still selfish, and the Goblin King is still in love with the girl with cruel eyes."

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 2: Non-expectations<strong>

– – –

It's some years later before I see her again. Unlike before, she was still crying when I appear.

For all the growing up I suppose she must have done throughout the years, the changes in her bedroom, and her wardrobe are nothing to her acquired maturity. She is truly beautiful, I note, even with her eyes red, and still shedding tears.

I do not know how to comfort a crying woman - children, yes, but a woman grieving for her father? No, thank you - and so I sit gingerly on the edge of her bed, and wait.

I have no idea of how long I wait – minutes, hours, days, it does not matter – nor do I bother to count.

When she eventually calmed, I waste no time in offering Sarah her dreams. Again.

Unlike the previous times, she doesn't react immediately. Instead, she is suddenly moving to sit beside him, close without being distant. But the distance is noticeable enough that I am sharply reminded by my _non-expectations_ of offering comfort, and so I wonder if I maybe missed that chance with my inaction...

But she is already talking, and asking me why I am here. _Obviously_, I am here to offer Sarah her dreams when her world falls—

"No. I mean, _yes_, I'm depressed, and I know that no matter what I say, I look broken, but... But it happens. My parents will die, I know that, even if I didn't understand it before. Sometimes, it just happens that parents leave their children to bury them, and it hurts, but it happens. But, we humans are stronger than that. We may fall, but we get up again. Our world doesn't stop moving just because we fall down a few times."

"A few times, Sarah? You were grieving for days! I should know! I have been here, beside you! I am here, even now, to offer you your dreams, to leave this broken world behind!"

But she just cocks her head, as if trying to figure me out. What is there to figure out?

"That you take every sad experience I go through as if it was something that would break me. Why?"

I have nothing to say to that, and so I take my leave, since she obviously has no need of me.

It's only later that I realize that I had been quite rude, and I would never admit – even if asked under torture – that I wondered if I was more irritated by the fact that she was not broken without me as I was without her, or that she simply had no need of me.

Perhaps it was both.

– – –

**TBC.**


	3. Truly Look

**DISCLAIMER:** I have no right to claim Labyrinth and its characters as my own. Etc.

* * *

><p><strong>As the World Falls Down<strong>

"In which Sarah is still selfish, and the Goblin King is still in love with the girl with cruel eyes."

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 3: Truly Look<strong>

– – –

But I come again, of course. Years later, when her mother had "crashed and burned" so to speak, and committed suicide.

She is not crying this time, but there is something empty in her eyes, similar to the previous times I visited her.

I happen upon a solemn Sarah in her kitchen, this time, and there are two mugs on the table.

"I was expecting you," She says, as if that's that.

_Ah_, she figured it out then? Does that mean she will—

"No. I didn't accept your offer then, I don't see why I should accept it now."

Stubborn woman!

"See here, Sarah. I've been generous! Very much so! Every time your world falls down, I am here, as promised. I do not have to offer you your dreams, and yet I do. Why should you not accept what I offer you, to leave behind the broken pieces of the life you knew, and live the one you _yourself_ dreamt of?"

She blinks. Slowly. As if it was her who was trying to do the figuring out!

I am not amused. I am long past amused, and now I am only tired. _Exasperated!_ There is nothing to learn from all this, truly.

"Is that what you really think? That I continue to refuse you just to continue spiting you?"

What other reason _is_ there?

"If you think that I haven't grown up since I first rejected your offer, then I think you need to look. Look at me."

Something in her tone made me look. Truly look.

I see Sarah. Beautiful, precious Sarah. But she was a woman, now. Back straight, without being too stiff. Her shoulders thrown back, and her chin up. Her stance is wide, for balance, without being cocky. Territorial, perhaps. A fighter, if I ever saw one, as if she was ready to take on what the world throws her way...

Oh. _Oh._

– – –

_**TBC.**_


	4. Broken

**DISCLAIMER:** I have no right to claim Labyrinth and its characters as my own. Etc

* * *

><p><strong>As the World Falls Down<strong>

"In which Sarah is still selfish, and the Goblin King is still in love with the girl with cruel eyes."

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 4: Broken<strong>

– – –

Unfortunately, the world is cruel, especially to those who want to live it to the fullest, moreso to those who will fight for their right to live. Sarah falls under both categories.

It is no surprise then, for either of them, that I should appear to her another time.

So I arrive at her home, on a particularly cold summer night, in the dining room she shared with her recently-departed husband. There's a dinner setting before her. For two.

"Would you like to stay for dinner? As I recall, you left without even touching your tea, the last time."

But her attempt at pleasantries falls flat, and her voice is dead.

Wordlessly, I offer her her dreams. She is familiar, I am sure, of our song and dance.

"I'm tempted. Sorely tempted." she says, with a dead look in her eyes. It is so very unbecoming of her, that I actually pull the crystal back.

I did not expect her to deviate, not this time.

It seems an eternity – even to someone who has lived more than a millenia – that we stare at one another.

I would not have offered, had I seen the dead look in her eye. She was lost, the determined Sarah I knew. Broken.

"Yes. I am."

I never heard silence quite this _loud_.

– – –

**TBC.**


	5. Feel the Fire

**DISCLAIMER:** I have no right to claim Labyrinth and its characters as my own. Etc

* * *

><p><strong>As the World Falls Down<strong>

"In which Sarah is still selfish, and the Goblin King is still in love with the girl with cruel eyes."

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 5: Feel the Fire<strong>

– – –

"You have resisted far worse, Sarah."

"I could bury my parents," she starts dully, "my father, then my mother. Someday, my stepmother. They're my parents, and I could expect myself to outlive them. But never my husband. I couldn't. I don't want to. Not alone."

"I do not understand. Why break from this?" Sarah is strong, I know, and I expected her to break from her parents' deaths. They made her, loved her, raised her - albeit her mother more distantly - and gave her all she has. Not material trinkets. Her inner grace was inborn, not learned, her looks, her attitude, her fire.

"But I made of the tools they gave me who I am today. They gave me what to work with, but it was up to me what I want to use it for. I found for myself the kind of love they didn't get to share, the kind of love that lasted through disagreements that broke my parents. I found for myself someone to love me, faults and all. He was a dream I made come true of my own power, of my own will."

And losing him broke her. I know this. But what I want to know, tonight...

"Will you stay broken this time, Sarah?"

She thinks on it, and I seat myself at her table. Where her husband sat, when he was still alive – before he broke Sarah.

"I'm tempted to, yes. My children are hurting, yes, but they're going to have Toby, and his new wife. They would be fine. Happy. I have nothing left for me here, anymore. Nothing I couldn't learn to let go."

"But..? It is never this easy, Sarah, not with you."

For a moment, I can see her eyes shine, as it did the first time she rejected me, and as it did after she gathered herself at the end of my visits.

It's beautiful. It's as if I was watching a star be born, shining so brightly after gathering enough magic. Enough fire.

But the moment passes, and she is as she is supposed to be – mortal, with eyes brighter than normal, but not unless you knew how to look.

"Stay for dinner. I would appreciate your company. Truly."

Sitting across her, eating what Sarah said was pot roast, enjoying the night to its fullest, I feel the fire.

Indeed, I prefer Sarah burning brightly - if far away - than close to me, with dead eyes.

Yes, she shines so beautifully.

– – –

**TBC.**


	6. Truly

**DISCLAIMER:** I have no right to claim Labyrinth and its characters as my own. Etc.

* * *

><p><strong>As the World Falls Down<strong>

"In which Sarah is still selfish, and the Goblin King is still in love with the girl with cruel eyes."

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 6: Truly<strong>

– – –

My next visit a week later, just after breakfast, I finally manage to see her surprised.

"You smug, arrogant jerk!" she shrieks.

I tell myself that I hid my satisfaction quite well, _thank you_, and I did _not_ look like a smug, arrogant jerk, as Sarah so eloquently put it.

Although, given that there was no terrible upheaval going on, she had a right to be surprised at my appearance.

"Ah, no. You wound me, Sarah. Here, I thought that you would appreciate my company. _Truly_," I strike a regal – if comedic pose – without taking my eyes off her.

She laughs, and oh, it's a glorious and welcome sound after her flat voice, and dead, dead, eyes.

"Well, I'm afraid you'll have to settle for takeout tonight. It's much too late to start cooking anything now, unless it's instant. Somehow, I doubt you'll appreciate instant noodles." Even as she's already moving to the counter to get a...something... what?

I hold the food gingerly, uncertain where to hold it, not to mention how to eat it.

Still laughing - and I think, maybe it's worth the humiliation, if she laughs more like that, and because of me - she somehow manages to teach me how to eat a... _Pizza_...she calls it.

Humiliated, yet strangely humbled, I take my leave after a long night of simply spending it beside Sarah.

She needs the silence, I realize. A comforting kind of silence, simply knowing that she is not alone. Not the silence of the dead.

She should laugh more. It fills rooms, better than my own presence.

Not to mention, she sounds so very lovely.

– – –

**TBC.**


	7. To Have a Friend

****DISCLAIMER:** **I have no right to claim Labyrinth and its characters as my own. Etc.

* * *

><p><strong>As the World Falls Down<strong>

"In which Sarah is still selfish, and the Goblin King is still in love with the girl with cruel eyes."

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 7: To Have a Friend<strong>

– – –

I visit almost daily, now.

Sometimes, I could only stay for a few hours. But other times, I stay the whole afternoon, when my schedule permits it.

She hasn't cooked, since our first dinner together, and I do not question it. Instead, she introduces me to different kinds of... _takeout_, she calls it.

It's much too late for lunch, and still too early for dinner, yet she always has some sort of food ready, in the afternoons that has become my usual time to visit.

Perhaps this is what it is like, I wonder, to have a friend?

"Are we friends, Sarah?" I murmured one late afternoon, before I had to go back to my kingdom and before she had to pick up her children from school.

She looked at me with an odd kind of smile - but it did not really matter, because it was a smile - and said, "Well, I'd hate to think that I've been this hospitable for so long and we don't have some measure of friendship between us."

I smiled back, before taking my leave.

Later, I would think, I should have left it at that.

– – –

**TBC.**

* * *

><p><strong>NOTE (06.21.11) : <strong>I would like to thank the anonymous reviewer who pointed out the change in POVs. I am _very_ sorry for that, and I really have no excuse as to how neither myself nor my beta were able to correct it immediately.


	8. Indeed

**DISCLAIMER:** I have no right to claim Labyrinth and its characters as my own. Etc.

* * *

><p><strong>As the World Falls Down<strong>

"In which Sarah is still selfish, and the Goblin King is still in love with the girl with cruel eyes."

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 8: Indeed<strong>

– – –

It was bound to happen, sooner or later.

I had managed to avoid it before – part unconsciously, and greater part very-conscious avoidance – but I was bound to get careless – _with aplomb, _no less.

Stress, coupled with a lax guard, and a dependence I should not even have allowed to develop made me visit Sarah, without checking what time it was Above.

So, it was to some confusion that I arrived at the same time as Sarah and her children arrived home.

"You're late, today," she remarked, after a while. Her children, seeing she recognized me, waved 'hello' at me, not a little curious.

I too, wonder, if I should merely take my leave...

"No harm done, I'll get dinner ready soon, if you don't mind waiting," saying thus, she swept inside, going straight to the kitchen to cook.

So I sweep in after her little - broken - family, and observe her children. None are as fiery as she was, but then, they did not have to go through dangers untold and hardships unnumbered, as she had. But her two children have inherited her curiosity in spades, it seems.

Already, the little girl was whispering in her older brother's ear, asking him if _he_ knows who I am.

I do not understand the commotion, I mused.

"Mummy. She... She hasn't cooked. Not since... not since Dad..." he trailed off, uncertain. I sat there, both clarified and confused, at the same time.

I still do not 'get' it, as it were.

"Mummy loves to cook. Daddy likes to eat her cooking, so it's more special to her. She gets sad because cooking reminds her of Daddy. But you visit, and she cooks again!" the child whispered to me, as if sharing with me a secret of great importance.

I look at her, so young. They both look at me with such innocent eyes, as if I saved them from some great tragedy.

"Indeed? I am simply a presence too amazing to ignore, perhaps?" I wink at her, and leaning forward conspiratorially, I whisper, "I love your mum's cooking, too."

Her 'takeout' simply wasn't the same. Her children, it seems, agree on that. They share a look, and nod.

Without further ado, the little girl – I really must remember to ask Sarah her childrens' names later – was already sitting on his lap, and chattering off about her day, and continues to do so long after we sat down to the dinner Sarah cooked.

I should have seen it, even then.

– – –

**TBC.**


	9. In between

**DISCLAIMER:** I have no right to claim Labyrinth and its characters as my own. Etc.

* * *

><p><strong>As the World Falls Down<strong>

"In which Sarah is still selfish, and the Goblin King is still in love with the girl with cruel eyes."

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 9: In-between<strong>

– – –

As it is, I am apparently very thick.

And blind. And stupid. And blind. And a very arrogant idiot, who should watch what I say, and to whom. And blind, have I said?

"Yes! You are! BLIND. Very much so! You-! You-! You thickheaded, pigheaded, IDIOT!"

Still raging, Sarah, throws pillows at my head. For a very angry woman, she has good aim.

"Come now, Sarah, be reasonable-" I start, - "REASONABLE! He wants me to be reasonable. _He wants me to be_ _reasonable!_" - "I do not even know what it is I have done wrong. Tell me, please, so that I could make it right."

Heaving a big sigh, she sits down beside me, and leans back. I wait for her to speak.

"It's just... my children. They think you're going to be their new father."

I froze, quite literally. Was that good? Bad? In-between? Worse? Apocalyptic, perhaps? Should I have known this might happen?

"Sometimes, Sarah," I found myself murmuring, "children know better the things that they need. Perhaps..."

"No. I can't give them false hope like that."

False hope? What does she think of me, that I would be one to break my promises, and leave her, after all I have -

"It's not that, either. It's... I'm not tying you to a commitment, simply for the sake of my children. How is a marriage of convenience better than staying in a marriage where one partner is abusive? It's not how a real family is."

Of all the -! This was worse, than when I thought she might be insinuating that I would break my promises to her. But the worst of it was...

"I understand, Sarah."

I said no more.

– – –

**TBC.**


	10. Someday

**DISCLAIMER:** I have no right to claim Labyrinth and its characters as my own. Etc.

* * *

><p><strong>As the World Falls Down<strong>

"In which Sarah is still selfish, and the Goblin King is still in love with the girl with cruel eyes."

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 10: Someday<strong>

– – –

From then on, I calculated my visits.

I allowed the time between visits to grow, tapering off until I only visited for their "special occasions" and then rarely, if at all.

Then I stopped visiting, altogether.

I immersed myself deeper into my kingdom, court intrigue, and documents for treaties.

Alright, it was merely court gossip and mostly-useless paperwork. Tedious to the point of boring me to tears, were I a lesser man.

But no, I was Goblin King, and with that title came the advantages and disadvantages.

A king learns, early on, to put the greater need above his own personal needs. And wants.

He missed Sarah, truly, and the two children that made their way into his heart long before the first dinner they shared was over.

But he understood.

He only hoped that someday, they would as well.

– – –

**TBC.**

* * *

><p><strong>NOTE: <strong>The story is coming to a close, soon. I'm insanely happy that many are adding my story to their alerts and/or favorites - it's always nice to know it's well-received. However, I highly encourage everyone to drop a review, tell me what you think of the story. I'm interested in what you think of it. :) I try my best to be able to update, as well as reply to the reviews as my time allows me. I read them all, even if I am unable to reply. And yes, this is me shamelessly asking for reviews.


	11. It is Tragic, plain and simple

**DISCLAIMER:** I have no right to claim Labyrinth and its characters as my own. Etc.

* * *

><p><strong>As the World Falls Down<strong>

"In which Sarah is still selfish, and the Goblin King is still in love with the girl with cruel eyes."

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 11: It is tragic, plain and simple<strong>

– – –

Unfortunately, understanding does not always bring with it acceptance.

Death was, is, and _always_ will be sad. No matter what science, religion, or hope say about being in a better place, the people left behind never are.

It is tragic, plain and simple. No matter how many of one's family and friends die, it will always hurt. It will always be felt.

No matter that one has barely-known it a few days, a couple of months, or known it intimately all your life.

Because unfortunately, simply _knowing_ will never save one from hurting.

Thus, I appear before her. She is dry-eyed, and very much tired.

I offer Sarah her dreams, once again. They are warm, and shining brightly as when I first offered. It feels so long...

"It _has_ been long time, hasn't it?" she asks casually, even as she waves away the offer of her dreams.

I sit beside her, as I did some... some time ago, even as I wonder if we are still talking about her dreams.

"They died together, you see. Karen and Toby. They went Christmas shopping, and I declined their invitation because I've always done my shopping early, to avoid the rush. Avoid the snow, and the ice."

"Toby was a delightful child," I find myself saying. Because what else could I offer? I have never truly learned how to comfort a grieving woman in the millennia that I lived.

But for the first time, I wondered to myself, if I should've learned – or at least tried to – to offer comfort, since the first time I failed to offer such. To Sarah. _For_ Sarah.

"That's generous enough, thank you. But you don't have to. It's enough. I failed to appreciate it then, but I appreciate it now."

Does she? I wondered. "Do you _truly_, Sarah?"

"Yes."

And I suddenly just _knew_.

So _this_ time, I left it at that.

– – –

**TBC.**

* * *

><p><strong>NOTE (06.30.11):<strong> The End is so close...


	12. Time flies fast

**DISCLAIMER:** I have no right to claim Labyrinth and its characters as my own. Etc.

* * *

><p><strong>As the World Falls Down<strong>

"In which Sarah is still selfish, and the Goblin King is still in love with the girl with cruel eyes."

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 12: Time flies fast<strong>

– – –

But I could not stay away. Not truly.

I started visiting again, in the afternoons as was my usual time, though not as frequent.

The first time, I was hesitant. "Would you still appreciate my company, Sarah?"

She simply smiled, said "Yes,_ truly_." Then she set about preparing tea and freshly baked bread. I did not even question why she already had enough food for two, even though she now lived alone.

Sometimes, we talked. I told her about the Goblin Kingdom's lands surrounding the Labyrinth. She, in turn, told me about her children now that they were adults by their own right, and beginning to make their own mark in their world.

Other times, we just sat – sometimes in her living room, or in the dining room – but more often than not, we sat in her front porch, watching the sun rise, then hours later, watch it set. We sat, side by side, in comfortable silence.

I had no idea, that when mortals said that time flies fast, they _meant_ it.

Literally.

– – –

**TBC.**


	13. Only Sometimes

**DISCLAIMER:** I have no right to claim Labyrinth and its characters as my own. Etc.

* * *

><p><strong>As the World Falls Down<strong>

"In which Sarah is still selfish, and the Goblin King is still in love with the girl with cruel eyes."

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 13: Only Sometimes<strong>

– – –

It didn't happen gradually, not from my point of view.

Or perhaps it did, and I simply refused to see it, until it was slapping me in the face.

I came Above, summoned by magic to Sarah's side, and this time, I am to watch as her world is falling down, not merely pick up the pieces in the aftermath, as I had before.

Thus, it was is she lay on too-white sheets, her life sustained by various machines whose functions I never saw need to understand, I offered Sarah her dreams.

Unsurprisingly, even wrought with old age, she merely raises her eyebrow at the offer of her dreams.

_Determined_ woman, this one.

But _why_? Why still hold on? "Unlike before, you truly have nothing left to live for, Sarah. Your children are grown, with families of their own. You can take your dreams, now. You don't have to stay here, to wither and die, when you could be young once again. _Forever_. It's not long at all, precious."

"Maybe so. But I already made my dreams come true. Perhaps not all of them, but what I could, I made possible, with my own will."

"For your will is as strong as mine..." I found myself remembering.

"Yes."

"But this chance, Sarah, you could make so much more. You can watch over your children's children, and so on. Your blood." If nothing else, that is one of the greatest advantages of mortal-turned-immortal, the knowledge that your kin is safe, and watched over.

Having said my part, I can only wait.

I will wait one more time.

"I can't bury any more of my family."

Ah. So it comes down to _that_, does it? I should have seen it, even from the very first time I offered Sarah her dreams.

Once. I can only wait _once_ more. After today... well, I still have to try. Just _one last time_.

"Still selfish, Sarah?" I asked, even though I knew for certain. I smiled, though.

Indeed. I smiled, because I already understood, from the second time I offered what I did not want to see from the first time I did.

Alas, time can only change so much — and sometimes, not even then.

A smile still - no, _always_ - the same smile. Amusement a quirk in the corner of her lips, and cruelty alight in her eyes.

"Only sometimes, Jareth."

_Bitch_.

– – –

**END.**

**06.07.11**

* * *

><p><strong>NOTE (07.07.11):<strong> Yes, this really is the END. Abrupt? Maybe so, but cruelty does not know patience. From the beginning, this has always been the end that I've seen for this story - before I even had a beginning, actually, I knew I wanted this. I actually said so in the summary. Literally. And yes, the whole thing was done before I even posted the story, but I still had to work out technical errors in each chapter, like my tenses. I suck at tenses.

Lastly, I would just like to extend a big _THANK YOU!_ to everyone who stuck around for this story :) I'm testing out other ideas, not all of them in Labyrinth, but I hope you'll give my other stories a chance, anyway.


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